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Mobile World Congress Barcelona: a first view

All eyes of the mobile industry are directed to Barcelona this week, where the annual Mobile World Congress (formerly 3GSM) is taking place.
Here are already some interesting news bits:

– Microsoft Corp. unveiled the latest version of its Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system, adding video-games and music features in a bid to stop market share losses to Apple Inc. and Google Inc. Read more

– Check here for an overview of some of the newest and most popular handsets on the market from a dozen leading vendors. Many large players, including Sony Ericsson, Samsung and HTC, have presented at the start of the Congress yesterday new devices. Surprisingly, Nokia didn’t bring any new toys…

– With Apple and Google stealing most of the limelight the past few months, other mobile manufacturers are gearing up to face the competition. Many are announcing new models of smartphones and marketplaces to compete with the iPhone and the App Store and their likes.
Ericsson announced its eStore mobile application store.
Meanwhile, an alliance of 24 operators (including China Mobile, Britain’s Vodafone, the U.S.’s AT&T and Verizon Wireless, Spain’s Telefónica, France’s Orange), dubbed the Wholesale Applications Community, are collaborating on an “open platform” that delivers applications to all mobile phone users.

Keep updated on the Mobile World Congress via their official website, and ofcourse via the MobileWeb blog.